D1 Capital Partners L.P. Sells 2,595,000 Shares of Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG)

D1 Capital Partners L.P. decreased its position in Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG - Free Report) by 49.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,669,498 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,595,000 shares during the period. Warner Music Group comprises approximately 1.4% of D1 Capital Partners L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. D1 Capital Partners L.P. owned 0.52% of Warner Music Group worth $82,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,371,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,504,000 after purchasing an additional 82,149 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,199,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444,508 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 7,920,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400,500 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Warner Music Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,895,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $182,746,000 after purchasing an additional 839,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Warner Music Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,644,673 shares of the company's stock worth $82,009,000 after acquiring an additional 16,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMG shares. Citigroup upgraded Warner Music Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. FBN Securities started coverage on Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down from $37.00) on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Warner Music Group from $43.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Warner Music Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.47.

Warner Music Group Trading Up 2.7 %

Warner Music Group stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.44. The stock had a trading volume of 938,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,952,490. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.32. Warner Music Group Corp. has a 12 month low of $27.06 and a 12 month high of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.67.

Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.11. Warner Music Group had a return on equity of 79.01% and a net margin of 8.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Warner Music Group Corp. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Warner Music Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Warner Music Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Warner Music Group news, EVP Timothy Matusch sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $31,430.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,808.07. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Valentin Blavatnik sold 28,230 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $1,000,753.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 68,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,958.80. This trade represents a 29.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,333 shares of company stock worth $1,072,432. Insiders own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Warner Music Group Profile

Warner Music Group Corp. operates as a music entertainment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. The Recorded Music segment is involved in the discovery and development of recording artists, as well as related marketing, promotion, distribution, sale, and licensing of music created by such recording artists; markets its music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as previously unreleased materials; and conducts its operation primarily through a collection of record labels, such as Warner Records and Atlantic Records, as well as Asylum, Big Beat, Canvasback, East West, Erato, FFRR, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin' Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville.